An ultrasonic imaging apparatus emits ultrasonic signals towards a specific part of a subject (e.g., a human body) from the skin surface of the subject, and receives ultrasonic signals (that is, ultrasonic echo signals) reflected from the specific part of the subject so as to non-invasively acquire section images about soft tissue or images about blood vessels based on information about the ultrasonic echo signals.
Compared to other imaging apparatuses including an X-ray imaging apparatus, a Computerized Tomography (CT) scanner, a Magnetic Resonance Image (MRI) apparatus, and a radiographic diagnosis system, the ultrasonic imaging apparatus is a low-priced apparatus having a small size, can display images in real time, and have high safety since there is no risk for patients to be exposed to radiation such as X-rays. For the advantages, the ultrasonic imaging apparatus is widely used to diagnose the heart, breasts, abdomen, urinary organs, uterus, etc.
In general, an ultrasonic imaging apparatus includes a main body to accommodate main components of the ultrasonic imaging apparatus, an ultrasonic collector to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves, a control panel including various switches and keys through which commands for manipulating the ultrasonic imaging apparatus are input, and a display to display the results of ultrasonic diagnosis as images.
A method in which the ultrasonic imaging apparatus performs ultrasonography on a subject is as follows. First, an operator holds the ultrasonic collector with his/her one hand to move the ultrasonic collector while keeping the ultrasonic collector in contact with the skin surface of a subject, and manipulates the control panel with the other hand to perform ultrasonography. An ultrasonic image obtained by the ultrasonography is displayed in real time through the display so that the operator can diagnose the state of the subject.
However, since ultrasonic images obtained by ultrasonography are monochrome images due to the physical properties of the ultrasonic imaging apparatus, there is limitation in representing the inner structure of a subject realistically. In order to overcome the limitation, a method of producing 3-dimensional (3D) color ultrasonic images based on arbitrarily selected colors has been developed. However, the method still has a problem that reality of images is low since the images are not based on the real colors of a subject. Particularly, when producing 3D ultrasonic images of the fetus, the method results in lower reality than when producing images of the heart, breasts, etc.